DIY It: Plant a Beautiful Indoor Succulent Garden

An expert landscape designer shows us how to turn these beautiful, easy-to-care-for plants into a tabletop sculpture.

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Snow might still blanket the ground in your yard, but you can start to invite spring inside by planting an indoor succulent garden in a bowl. Assorted succulent plants can weave together to form colorful, textural works of art—perfect for any surface in your home. I loved this Instagram from designer and stylist Emily Henderson, so I chatted with California NaturScaping landscape designer Alyssa Finley-Moore—who helped me create a succulent garden in my own backyard—to find out how I might be able to do something similar.

Cactus potting mix (You can also make your own using soil and sand to make the dirt more porous.)

A variety of succulents with different textures and shapes. "Don't pick more than three colors total," Alyssa says. You can find an amazing assortment at local nurseries, even your neighborhood Home Depot or Lowe's.

3. Time to plant, starting with your largest succulent. It doesn't necessarily have to be placed in the middle of the bowl (Emily's sits off to one side), but it will offer you a focal point to build from. Remove the plant from its pot by turning it upside down in your hand, pulling off the pot, then setting the roots in the bowl. If the plant has sharp edges, wear gloves.

4. Build out from this succulent. Plan your placement before enveloping each plant's roots with soil. Cascading succulents are lovely planted near the bowl's edges, for instance. And pepper the color around the bowl rather than concentrating it in one place, Alyssa advises. Don't worry about planting too close. You want them to have a lush, crowded look, so fill in every gap.

6. Water. Take the bowl outside and use the mister setting on your hose to give the soil an initial watering. The root systems of succulents are very good at providing moisture for the plants, so be careful not to overwater.